Trim AC hosted the first of its 2018 Running Workshops at the Castle Arch Hotel on Wednesday 21 Feb.

The event was organised by Andrew Revington, Niall Feeney, Laura Cotter and Ann Tobin. There was a large attendance from athletic clubs, running groups and multi eventers.

The MC Andrew Revington started off proceedings with an account of his recent completion of the Six Major Marathons. He is the very proud owner of a very unique medal which is only conferred on those who have completed Boston, New York, London, Tokyo, Berlin and Chicago marathons. He spoke of the triumphs and the pitfalls that he encountered in qualifying, preparing and completing the Six. He combined the rigours of training with the stressses of farming 600 acres of land with dairy and tillage major components of his enterprise. No Mean Feat !!!  He then rounded off a unique year with a very proud and satisfying gallop around Dublin at the end of October. A real inspirational talk from a man who only got into serious running in the past 3 years.....always willing to seek good advice and carry out a plan.

Next up on to speak was David Tobin, health and performance nutritionist with the Institute of Sport at Sports Campus Ireland in Abbotstown. David outlined the importance of implementing a "food first" approach to sports nutrition. He set out the guidelines for fueling the body for training and competing, He stressed the importance of food in helping with recovery from training sessions. He also spoke of the role of nutrition in enabling injury rehabilitation. He demonstrated guidelines for portion sizes, meal frequency, and balancing meals with carbs,proteins and essential fats.

The final speaker of the night was renowned local distance specialist Peter Mooney. He gave an informative and interesting talk on how the running scene has changed so much in the past 15/20 years. He spoke of basic tenets of training and preparation which should be followed if we are to achieve personal sporting or life paths. He told the audience to be open to taking on good advice on board and using it to improve. Consistency in training following the SMART principles ie.... specific measurable attainable relevant time. It is also very important to go to the start line to RACE no matter what your ability level is.

There followed a question and answers session from the floor. There was good interaction between the speakers and a well informed audience. The attendees were made up of a variety of runners over all levels of experience and abilities. We hope that they derived some benefits from the evening.

A raffle wound up proceedings with prizes donated by Avonmore Milk, 42KRunning, Trim AC and Na Fianna AC.

PHOTOS Courtesy of Deborah Rossney